Yolo inmates get help learning new skills through Day Reporting Center

As AB 109 continues to push state prisoners into local jails, counties are getting creative in how to deal with the crush -- and that creativity has led to some positive results.

One such result is the Yolo County Day Reporting Center, a program designed to teach inmates the skills needed to get a job and keep it, thereby keeping them out of jail.

The center, which has been up and running for about two months, held its grand opening Tuesday. Dozens of local leaders gathered in one of its three classrooms next door to the County Jail.

The idea for the Day Reporting Center is borrowed from Sacramento County, which launched its own version five years ago. That county's leaders, on hand for Tuesday's event, say the results have been outstanding: a 12.5 percent "return to custody" rate so far, down from 70 percent to 80 percent without the program.

"Really the way out of this for these inmates is a job," explained David Gordon, superintendent of the Sacramento County Office of Education, a collaborator on the project.

That's why the Day Reporting Center offers a path to employment through vocational and life training. Case worker Shunn Brown -- a "transitional specialist" for Sacramento County currently working at the Yolo County center -- said he teaches his students perspectives and methods for how to reach their goals, asking them first of all what they really love doing.

Maybe it's cooking, or construction, or computer troubleshooting. Whatever it is, "They'll do it for free," Brown said. "So I say, 'That's what you need to go towards.'"

Brown said his students range in age from 17 on up. "The oldest I've had? 80," he said.

James Horn, a Woodland resident, falls somewhere between 17 and 80 -- and says much of his life has been spent grappling with drug and alcohol addiction.

Now a student in the Day Reporting Center, the ex-convict is turning over a new leaf.

"I'm going into human services," he said, explaining that his own background will help him to help others.

"I've got money, I'm going to go to school." Eventually, he hopes to be a counselor for others with drug and alcohol addiction.

First, though, he needs his GED -- and the Day Reporting Center will help him get it. He said his probation officer placed him in the program, which currently has about 42 students.

"This is really an important day I think for the community of Yolo County," said Sheriff Ed Prieto during opening remarks.

"Without some sort of vocation you're not going to be successful," Prieto said. Even his own daughter, he said, who has a master's degree, is having difficulty finding work -- so imagine how hard it is for inmates, many of whom have no education at all.

But officials say the Day Reporting Center can help them obtain vocational skills. Prieto noted that many of them want to become carpenters, plumbers, gardeners or electricians, but need a push to get there.

Miguel Munoz, another Woodland resident recently released from jail, said he has another two-and-a-half months to go before his Day Reporting Center program is complete. Then, "I'll be on my way" toward earning a GED.

He said he has three children at home, ages 10, 12 and 14, and he wants to set a better example for them.

When he urges them to get their degree, "I want to say, 'Look at me then -- look, look!'"

Even now, Munoz said, "They get a kick out of when dad brings his homework to the table."

"If you know only one thing, that's what you're going to do," he said. "They show you something different here."

"Change is hard," Horn said. "If you don't have all the right tools and all the right help, it can be insurmountable."